Unlimited boards at races

[gorgebob]

What has been happening to the unlimiteds when they show up to a race that has not scheduled a start or a division? In the NW we see only a couple at Around the Rock race and those are mostly trucked in from Riviera. Thoughts?

[pdxmike]

While we're waiting for people to answer who actually know something, I just wanted to say how a couple years ago in Seattle I had the experience of coincidentally picking up my 14' Glide from the shop right before the Naish Lake Union series race was set to start.  I debated whether to enter--I'd just heard about the race, so wasn't geared up to race, had a new board with no experience on it, new to racing, etc. so I had to suck up some courage to finally ask to enter.  They said sure, but you won't get a place, and your results won't count because this series is only for 12-6s.

It made me feel Rudolph at the Reindeer Games.  I'd got all psyched up to enter, but my money wasn't wanted (actually the money was, but my board wasn't).  I then had no interest in paying to race if my results didn't count, so I didn't.  At the time I didn't even know what an advantage lighter people have on 12-6s.  (Ironically, my board I was buying was a Nasih, and it was a Naish series, so I couldn't even race the series' sponsor's own board.)

So, if that's how unlimited boards are treated, that's too bad.  Ideally there'd be an unlimited category at all races, or if not I like solutions like the SUP Cup (as I recall) where they're still eligible for some awards and not treated as a purely exhibition category.  I'm curious what the UL people's experiences have been.

[stoneaxe]

FWIW we have a 12-6 class and unlimited for this years Challenge on the Charles. 12-6 for newbies that just want to paddle and for light folks that are serious, anything else for anyone that wants to go faster regardless of their size.

I know that my attitude about racing has changed. I pretty much just race for fun but I'm not going to enter a race that doesn't allow unlimited boards. I don't need to pay a race fee to go out and paddle my 14' hard against my own personal time. I'm not really racing against anyone but myself on anything but an unlimited board.

[TallDude]

Event organizers who exclude unlimiteds are Socialist Kooks that won't get a penny of mine. If a race is through the surf for the start and finish, and has a number of 90+ deg. buoy turns, I'll race on a 14'. Otherwise it will always be an unlimited for me....

I would bet that those kook organizers, don't know the difference between a Ski, and an OC-1. When we started racing SUP's years ago, the outrigger clubs included us in their events because they understand the concept of Aloha.

[gorgebob]

I do know the difference. When you put together races and only 1 unlimited class shows it seems silly to give them a trophy. i believe WPA had a 5 per class restriction.
Moving forward, as we did with the one prone paddler that showed up a couple times, we will have a fastest time award. If you beat an unlimited on your 14 then there you go. Thanks for your comments.

[PonoBill]

When I first started racing there were a lot of unlimiteds. In fact it seemed like the only two boards I saw were unlimiteds and surfboards.  Then we started seeing races that were 12'6" only, or 12'6" and 14' only. The surfboards went away because everyone got serious, and the unlimiteds went away because they were regulated out of the elite classes and they became hard to get.

The rule has always been silly. At best it's about transportation. But seriously, you're an elite paddler flying across the country to an event and you can't manage to get a board transported that suits your size? How often did that happen? Once? Twice?

If people race a board that's best suited to their size, strength and conditioning it will be X length. What's the point of doing differently? Won't there be more boards sold if people have, and can race, a board that enables them to go as fast as they can go, rather than as fast as they can go on a 14'?

[TallDude]

Gorge, I think every race should have an 'open division'. Prone, Unlimited, Cat, Tandem, etc. No trophy needed. Just the opportunity to compete against yourself among others who are doing the same. Since I started racing, I've had Jimmy Terrell, T-Max, Rob Rojos, Brian S. and a whole slew of unlimited guys way faster than me sitting right next to me at almost every start. Every year I compare my time with the years before, and that shows how I did. I personally think shorter boards are for sprinters. 6 to 8 mile races suit that type of competitor. I'm a distance guy, and much prefer a 12 to 14 mile race. The sprinters usually fade after 8 miles or so. It's the difference between a cross-county runner, and track sprinter. I helped a friend organize a SUP race on a Lake in our local mountains. He knew I raced a lot, and wondered about board classes. I recommended he follow the WPA guidelines, but have an open distance race. That 14 mile race is now my favorite. It's all the way around the lake. At times I will be all by myself, pushing as hard as can in my own world. No ribbon at the finish, just the satisfaction that I pushed myself as hard as I could.
Open mind, open race.